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13 Aug 2012

Steps Taken to Curb Naxalism

The CPI (Maoist), the main Left Wing Extremist (LWE) group, has been trying to expand its activities in various States of the country. The States of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha are considered badly affected by Left Wing Extremism. The States of West Bengal and Maharashtra are considered partially affected. The States of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are considered slightly affected States. There is substantial improvement in the situation in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, whereas LWE violence has remained low-key in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. This was stated by Shri Jitendra Singh, Minister of State of Home Affairs in the Rajya Sabha today. It is further clarified around 26 districts in India account for nearly 80% of the total LWE violence. The total number of ‘violence affected’ districts has to be viewed in this overall context. The details of damage to the government property is not fully maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs. During the high level meetings held with the Chief Ministers, the Chief Secretaries and the Director Generals of Police of the Left Wing Extremism affected States, the latest LWE scenario in the country is generally reviewed. In these meetings, a number of strategic and tactical issues concerning security and development interventions are discussed to fine tune counter-LWE strategy. The Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme of the Government of India provides ex-gratia payment of Rs.1 lakh to the family of civilians killed and Rs. 3 lakh to family of security personnel killed due to naxal attacks. Under the Central Scheme for Assistance to Civilians Victims/Family of Victims of Terrorist, Communal and Naxal Violence, an amount of Rs.3 lakh is given to dependants of deceased civilians for death or permanent incapacitation. Besides this, the State Governments have their own policy for payment of ex-gratia to the families of civilians and security personnel killed in naxal attacks.In order to contain LWE, review of existing laws and formulation of new laws and institutions is a continuous process depending upon the requirements and ground realities. The Central Government has taken various measures to control Left Wing Extremism which includes augmenting the strength of Central Armed Police Forces; establishment of National Security Guard (NSG) hubs at Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Mumbai; strengthening and re-organizing of Multi-Agency Centre to enable it to function on 24x7 basis; and sanctioning of new Specialized India Reserve Battalions (SIRB). The Central Government also proposes release of funds under the Special Infrastructure Scheme to the States of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha to raise Special Task Force to combat LWE. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 has been amended to strengthen the punitive measures.